


Recurring Nightmares

by All_hallowed_Beats



Category: Annihilation (2018 Garland), Bird Box (2018), Final Destination (Movies), The Mist - Stephen King, The Thing (1982), VenturianTale Characters (Web Series)
Genre: Body Horror, Gen, Horror, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:47:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22304401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_hallowed_Beats/pseuds/All_hallowed_Beats
Summary: The original P.I.E team finds themselves trapped in several different horror movies. While death doesn’t seem to be permanent... being trapped does
Kudos: 13





	1. Easiest Call Yet

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This is an in progress fic, and my first attempt at fanfic, so bear with me here  
> I’m very excited to get it all down

Early morning in Little Valley, North Carolina. A man stands in the kitchen of his home, a steaming cup of tea resting in front of him. He waited patiently for the cup of coffee being made, humming a soft tune to himself. The sound of footsteps from the stairs prompts him to look over at their owner, who sleepily waves and walks over.

“Morning sir!” The taller man, Johnny Toast, smiles at his partner and housemate, Johnny Ghost. “I started the coffee machine. Should be ready for you in just a second” Toast gestures to the pouring coffee as he speaks, before taking a sip of his own tea. Ghost nods slowly, taking a seat at the counter and resting his head on it. “thanks toast.. yknow what I like” he says, voice betraying his tiredness.

Toast raises an eyebrow at his tired friend and leans over the counter. “Late night again sir?” He questions with a frown. “Yup… everything keeps going off real late at night… tried to figure it out this time but I couldn’t make out the readings at all” Ghost sighs I’m tired frustration. “It’s like… they found something but don’t know what!” He adds with a shrug. Toast slides over the freshly made coffee with a smile. “Well sir, maybe it’s nothing to worry about? We may just have to get the batteries replaced in our equipment” he suggests, taking another sip of his tea. “I sure hope so Johnny….” Ghost finally drinks the coffee.

Toast walks around the counter to take a seat next to Ghost, humming what he was before. Ghost’s voice quickly interrupts whatever thoughts the British man may be having. “Any calls today Johnny?” the tired brunette looks up at his taller friend, the sleep visible in his bright green eyes. Toast takes a moment to remember, and then nods. “I believe so. A first time caller too sir. Message said they’ve been having issues with their tv, and think it might be paranormal. I honestly doubt it, but there’s no harm in checking it out. He’ll likely keep calling if we don’t anyways” Ghost takes a moment to process and nods. “Aight...simple. Nice. Gimme a bit to wake up and we can head out… easiest job yet” the brunette immediately takes a very large sip of his coffee, before coughing and spitting. Toast laughs at this. “Careful sir, it’s hot”, to which Ghost retorts “Yeah No shit Sherlock”, which only makes toast laugh more.

A bit later, Ghost walks out of his room, hood on and a bag full of equipment. “Yo Johnny! You ready?” He calls out, standing in the living room. Toast walks out of his own room, carrying his own things with him. “Of course sir” he replies with his usual smile. The two head out together, Ghost driving with Toast in the passenger seat. The streets are quiet this morning, with little but the chirping of the birds and one lone man mowing his lawn. The man isn’t phased by the suspect van driving past, as this is normal.

The house of the call looked decently normal. A small one story house occupied by a man and his girlfriend, who was currently out of town. As soon as the van pulls up, the man is already outside his house, eagerly awaiting the ghost hunters who had just arrived. Ghost scoffs at this and hops out, waiting for Toast to get out before approaching the man. “Hello sir. I’m Johnny Ghost, this is my partner, Johnny Toast. I assume you know why we’re here, seeing as you called us” Ghost gives his usual formal introduction, which seems to delight the man. “Yeah!! I’m Harvey Davidson...TVs being weird!! Come on in, you can sit on the couches if you want” Harvey urges the duo inside, closing the door behind them and leading them to his living room. The room itself would have been perfectly normal had it not been for the TV in question, which displayed only static currently. The Johnny duo take a seat on one of the couches relatively close to each other. “So, mister Harvey, can you describe the issue?” Toast asks, taking out his notebook. Harvey nods slowly. “So… this just started happening the other day. Normally I can get the usual channels on this TV, but now every time I try, all I can ever get is another damn horror movie. I don’t even like horror movies!” He explains, waving his hands as he speaks. Ghost leans forwards, staring at the TV. “Can you.. name some of the movies?” He asks Harvey while transfixed by the static. “Well there’s that….. Carpenter one. The one with all them practical whosits and the dogs”

“The thing?” Ghost corrects

“Yeah that’s it. And the uh… quiet place one, s well as that one weird one, with that screamin bear and the sky all funky” as it would turn out, Harvey is really not familiar with scary movies.

“Annihilation. That’s a weird one. Well… have you called a mechanic at all?” Toast is furiously writing as ghost asks the questions, making sure to get everything down.

“Called em, said it was fine! I say that’s a bunch of baloney”

Ghost and Toast share a look, and nod in unison.

“Well Harvey, I’m gonna do a scan of your TV. You can stay in here if you want, I mean I’m not gonna stop you unless you’re a distraction” Ghost stands up, taking a piece of equipment out of his bag. He cautiously approaches the TV, flipping the switch on his device and waving it in front. 

The device starts beeping rather violently, which causes Ghost to immediately check the screen. He frowns and walks over to Toast, who looks over it as well. “It’s...just like what was on the equipment. Last night…” 

“Do you think it’s connected sir?”

“Don’t see any other explanation Johnny….. well uh, we may have to take this with us. You’ll have to get a new TV. This one is giving us readings even we can’t understand” Ghost stands up straight again, glancing over at Harvey, who nods. “Thank ya so much..” the man smiles.

Ghost motions for Toast to come over as he stands on one side of the sinister TV. The two count down in unison before attempting to pick it up. At first, all seems normal, until the screen starts flashing violently and transmitting an odd voice.

“PROPER PARTICIPANTS HAVE MADE CONTACT. YOU HAVE SELECTED TO BE A PART OF THE RUN, WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR BRAVE SACRIFICE”

The Johnny duo simultaneously drops the strange tv, which shatters on the ground and releases a weird swirling smoke.

“WE THANK YOU FOR VOLUNTEERING TO COMPLETE THE RUN. WELCOME GHOST. WELCOME TOAST”

“What in all mercy?”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

The swirling smoke surrounds the duo, and in a flash.. they’re gone. 


	2. In The Ice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! The next chapter!! If you haven’t seen John Carpenter’s The Thing, I would highly suggest you see it, speaking simply as a fan of the film. I’m not gonna force you to before reading this chapter though! Enjoy~  
> All characters besides our main boys are merely replacements for the original characters of the film. Take a guess at who they are!

Freezing.

Absolutely freezing.

The cold was the first thing they felt, even in unconsciousness. The distant noise of a helicopter drew closer and closer, until the noise was too much to sleep through. It was Ghost who woke up first, staring around in shock. A helicopter lowered itself down nearby. The pilot had noticed them. Ghost turns and shakes Toast, trying to get him to wake up. The taller man was face down in the snow, and did nothing but shudder.  
The helicopter landed in the nearby snow, the blades blowing freezing wind towards the freezing duo. Ghost sits up, keeping a hand on Toasts back, perhaps just to make sure he’s still breathing. The door to the chopper opens, and a man steps out. Longer brown hair, snow goggles over his eyes, dressed for the freezing weather. He takes a couple steps towards the duo. “Hey! You alive over there??”

Ghost, still in shock, replies slowly, “I… I think so… I don’t know”

“Fact that you’re talking means you are. Jesus neither of you are dressed for this place….” The man thinks for a second, before fully approaching and offering a hand to Ghost, pulling him up when he accepts. He then moves to the unconscious Toast, carefully lifting him up. “I’m taking you with me. No matter who you are, I don’t think you deserve to freeze to death out here. Get in the back, I hope you aren’t afraid of heights”

Ghost, still in a daze, walks to the helicopter behind the man, and gets in with help. The copter takes off again, flying over an icy expanse..

The helicopter ride is silent besides the noise of the rotor. As they land at what looks to be a research base, they see other people walking about, including two men, one with a dog following him, and a woman. The helicopter pilot steps out, waving over at the man without dogs and the woman. “Hey!! I need some help over here! Found some people!” Ghost was absolutely freezing, and soon enough his struggle to remain awake would be futile, just as the man and woman walk over to help.

The very next thing either of the P.I.E Duo knew, was a room that looked like an infirmary. A curly haired woman sat in a chair, taking a look at some data on a screen, before she notices her awakened patients. “Oh! You’re both still alive! Wonderful!” She smiles wide, first moving over to Toast, who looked a lot paler than usual. “..Miss… where are we??” He asked in a daze, looking around. The Doctor retains her gentle smile “We’re in the middle of Antarctica dear. Creed said he found you both lying in the snow! You poor things, gone out without your proper gear didn’t you! Well I’m here to fix you up. My name is Doctor Apollyon, why don’t you two tell me yours?” She slides her chair in between the two boys.

“...Ghost.. just… call me ghost. That’s it”

“Jonathan Toast ma’am…and… last I recall we were rather far from Antarctica”

That comment seems to really catch Apollyon’s interest, her leaning forwards. “Really??? And where were you before then?”

“North Carolina” Ghost tries to stand up, which leads to Apollyon ushering him to sit back down, to which he pouts.

“Oh no dearie sit down.. North Carolina’s a long way from an Antarctic research base! You must be very confused. Anyways, where you came from aside, I was asked by Mr. Jiles to tell him when you both woke up! I’ll be right back dea-“

Apollyon is cut off by distant shouting, which causes both Ghost and Toast to sit straight up. A black haired woman swings open the door in a panic, staring around until her eyes locked on Apollyon. “Doctor!! Somethings gone wrong, Crews is injured!” She speaks fast, obviously out of breath. The doctor stands up, grabbing some things. “What happened Evelyn?”

“Something with the dogs.. I can hear everyone shouting! I think creed wanted a flamethrower too..”

“Well, we’d better waste no time!”

Evelyn and Apollyon rush out the door, with no regard to the two still inside the room. Toast quickly breaks the silence. “Should we… check it out sir?” He whispers. Meanwhile, Ghost is already back on his feet, with a pistol in hand. “Obviously!” The two rush down the hall.

They reach the source of the commotion in no time. Several people, including Evelyn, Apollyon, and Creed, the pilot who picked them up were there, arguing about a cage shrouded in darkness. The man with the dogs from before, crews, is on the ground panicking, crying about his precious dogs as Apollyon tends to him. Creed wields a flamethrower, slowly inching towards the light. Ghost and Toast slide in at this moment, and are met with confused and concerned stares from the others.   
“You two shouldn’t be over here.. we don’t know what’s in there. Could be dangerous” Creed frowns, to which Ghost snaps “Dangerous my ass just turn on the light and I’ll put a bullet in its head”

Creed seems convinced by the snappiness, and turns on the light to reveal…something. It was incredibly grotesque, looking like a pile of flesh on the ground, a hairless dog head coming out of it at one end of the body. Stemming from its body are tendrils that wrap one Dog and stick straight through another. A third dog can be seen nestled up to the creature, covered in a thin, slimy film and looking the worst out of all the dogs. A fourth dog yelps in panic, as tendrils seem to squirt blood at it. The sight of the creature causes all around to react in various ways. Ghost immediately starts firing at it, which causes it to snarl at him. Creed blasts it with his flamethrower to which crews protests, still yelling about the dogs. Toast steps back, horrified at the scene, and trying desperately to think of where he’s seen this before.

The creature lifts up by attaching itself to the ceiling, screaming in pain. The dogs not grabbed rush out, leaving the tied up dog and the bagged dog to be dragged with the creature. Crews hugs his dogs, and Creed goes closer, torching the beast to hell. At that moment, everything seems to calm down. 

Ghost is the one to finally break the silence, saying what everyone is thinking, “What… the fuck what that?!”

Back in the Medical area, Apollyon, as well as two other physicians: Evelyn and Jackson, stand around the charred carcass of what used to be a dog. What seems like everyone else in the base also occupies the room, including: Creed, Crews, William the radio operator, Maxwell the cook, Mechanic Valerie, Jiles, head of the base, Scientist Adam, Scientist Winter, Mechanic Aaron, and the two star boys. Apollyon frowns as she looks across the creature. “DNA seems to.. match and not match that thing we found at the Norwegian base… could be the same kind of creature”

“What about the dogs?” Crews cries out, pushing his way to the front. “It looks like..it was imitating them… we killed it before it could finish…”

At that moment, Ghost pulls Toast aside. “Johnny… are you thinking what I am right now?”

“..that we’re inside an 80s horror movie sir?”

“Exactly… and it’s The Thing..”

Jiles seems to notice them talking and scowls at them. “Got something to share with the rest of us, new guys?” He demands, obviously trusting neither of them.  
“Actually.. yeah” Ghost steps forwards. “What you people are saying is that you found some freaky creature in some abandoned research base.. and your first thought was to bring it back home? What kind of dumb idea was that?” He sounds irritated “and not to mention that you’re now keeping that… dog eater corpse too!”  
Jiles doesn’t seem to like that, and steps closer to Ghost. “And who exactly are you to come in here and act like you’re the expert on this sort of thing?”  
“Johnathan Ghost. And I think you sh-“ he’s cut off by Toast pulling him back and shushing him. “Uh- What my partner means to say, with all due respect sir, is that it seems a bit dangerous to have these out in the open!” He quickly fumbles for an explanation, a nervous smile plastered on his face. This seems to placate Jiles. “Fair enough. I see the logic in that. William? Jackson? can you move those into a storage closet?” The two nod and take the bodies away. Jiles watches them before turning back towards the two. “Now then.. I’m sorry for all the chaos. It must still be jarring for you two to be here. Please, feel free to ask for anything you might need. We chose to help you anyways” he smiles, sincere. “And, I think we should take this quiet now to get to know each other. I want to know more about you boys”

Jiles leads the two into a room that seems to be his office. He keeps a friendly smile, to hopefully drown any nerves the newest additions to his operation may have. The Johnny duo sits next to each other, and both are calm. About halfway through the questioning, however, a commotion is heard again. Jiles stands up. “Well.. might as well check on that”

Ghost and Toast bolt outside, both having been given warmer clothes courtesy of Jiles. Jiles himself is in front of them. Outside, William is shouting, and Jackson is on his knees in the snow. Once again, everyone else is outside. Zachary Creed holds a flamethrower, aimed right at Jackson. Just as the three from inside come out, Jackson stares around. His hands are warped and strange, and it becomes quickly obvious that this is not Jackson, but an unfinished imitation of him. He opens his mouth, letting out a strange an inhuman noise, like an organic siren, before Creed blasts him with flames. The strange noise turns to inhuman screams, as everyone stands shocked around the blaze. 

The flames eventually die down, leaving 13 individuals terrified and confused in the antarctic night. Creed is the first to break the silence.

“I know I’m human…..and some of you are human still. If you were all those… things, I’d be dead right about now. Those of you who are still human…..we need to watch our backs. We may never leave this place again, and we have to make sure that it can’t leave either”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seeing as I decided to take the ordeal of adding every death and assimilation in The Thing, in the spirit of keeping faithful to what is probably my all time favorite horror movie, this chapter will have a part 2! Thanks for bearing with me


	3. Alliance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Apollyon is more than she seems, the boys are tired of this movie, and we all go out with a bang! As a warning, this part has some graphic descriptions! It is based on The Thing, so the assimilation will be messy and nasty. Have fun!

The Antarctic base is covered in a cold, eerie silence. Creed’s declaration sent everyone into a silent paranoia, as the 13 all back into their own corners of the outdoors. Ghost pulls Toast with him, snapping the tall Brit out of his stunned trance. The duo exchanges a look of fear and uncertainty, staring into each other’s eyes like the answer would be in them. Their moment of quiet soul searching is interrupted by footsteps in the snow, coming right towards them. Looking in that direction reveals the source as Dr. Apollyon, approaching with the look of a woman only sane because of pure, unfiltered spite. She stops at a small distance from them, straightening her round glasses with a finger.

“I know that look in your eyes. The way you looked at the fire” Apollyon looks them both over, taking a deep breath before speaking again. “Am I correct in assuming you know this story?” 

“Know this story? I watched this as a movie!” Ghost throws his arms out, gesturing to everything as this. “Why do you want to know anyways? Why should we trust you?” He glares at her, taking a step back and pulling Toast with him.

“You should trust me, because I’m in the same boat as you boys. I had a hunch when you showed up, and this is proof that my hunch was right. I’m not the only one” Apollyon doesn’t step closer, keeping her distance and her hands in her pockets. 

Toast steps forwards now, ignoring Ghost’s protests and attempts to pull him back again. “If you’re trapped in here as well, how do they know you? How do you know them?” He asks, genuine curiosity in his voice. Apollyon sighs, glancing to the side. “They don’t know me. Or at least, they don’t know the real me, the me outside of the role The Run gave to me. As for how I know them? I don’t know all of them. Once you have a role, the run gives you fake memories. I’ve learned which ones are real or fake. The only person I really know here is Winter” her gaze stops on the woman in question, huddled up against a wall.

“How long have you-“ Toast is quickly interrupted by a wave from Apollyon. “That doesn’t matter. I don’t have enough time to get into detail anyways. I’m going to tell you this, before it’s too late for me” She takes a step closer, staring both of them in the eyes, “Stay alive until the end. Find me in the next one. We can help each other get out of here. Just… watch out. Remember the movie the best you can. And… don’t touch winter” her tone is grim, and dead serious. The boys can do little to react except nod slowly as she turns away from them. “Get them to torch the rest of the bodies. I’m afraid my time is ticking away” with that final note, Apollyon walks off, leaving the boys alone again.

The other bodies are quickly thrown into the fire, and as they stand by, Creed leaves for a moment, and comes back looking rather upset. 

“Doc broke the copter. We need to find her. Now” He sounds angry, and even a little scared. No one dares to even question him, as they all run inside looking for the missing doctor. Ghost casts a look to Toast, and the two run right to where they know she is now, peeking into the radio room. William busts in after them, shouting as Apollyon holds up an axe and starts screaming as loud as she can muster, smashing up the equipment in a sudden and unexplained fit. Her erratic smashing sends William cowering into a corner. She grabs at a gun on the table, aiming it at Aaron, who is now looking through the door at her.

“Doc! Calm down! You’re-“ Aaron is cut off by a gunshot that narrowly misses him. He ducks out of the way just in time to avoid the rest of the shots, and the gun itself being chucked across the room. The other crew members rush in with a table, and manage to sedate her. The boys follow behind as they drag her up to the copter tower, catching a knowing look from her. The others leave, as Creed has a short conversation with the mad doctor. He comes out and stares at the two remaining at the door.

“Do you know what happened? You were talking to her. You told us to burn the bodies and she slipped away. What did she say. What did she do” Creed is demanding, glaring at them with mistrust in his gaze. Toast steps up, covering ghost’s mouth before he can say something stupid. “We don’t know what happened, sir. All she said was not to touch anyone, not even her, not even the bodies. She was obsessed with burning them. I didn’t want to take the chance she was wrong”

Creed sighs, accepting that answer. “Get back inside. We have stuff to do”

—-  
The next few hours end up stressful as all can be, yet incredibly predictable to the boys who are both growing in paranoia as things go on. They hardly bat an eye as an argument over lost blood leads to Jiles giving up command to Creed, or as Winter vanishes, only to turn up torched to a crisp in the snow, only her necklace remaining. A shining snowflake pendant in a person shaped bed of ash. The tension seems to grow as paranoia tears friendships apart, leaving everyone at each other’s throats at all times. 

This leads the scene to a room, now packed once again with the remaining group. An argument has broken out, as they once again turn on each other and make loud accusations. In a moment of tension, Crews ends up running at Creed, who reacts by whipping around and shooting him in the head. Toast takes a step back, covering his mouth at the sudden death in the room. Ghost however, has his eyes on Wile, who has just collapsed. 

Roth rushes to Wile’s side, with Toast following to aid in lifting him up. He’s lifted onto the table, and a defibrillator is readied. It takes a second for Ghost to react, and the moment he moves to stop it, it’s too late. The defibrillator touches wile, and his stomach splits open, revealing ribs turned into rows upon rows of sharp, jagged teeth that clamp down on Roth’s arms. The physician screams in agony as her arms are torn off with a sickening crunch, and she stumbles away from the table. She backs into a wall and collapses, blood pooling onto the ground. 

Wile starts screaming as well, his scream turning inhuman and growing in volume as his head disconnects from his body like his neck was made of melting wax, and as dozens of spider-like legs sprout from the open maw on his stomach. The horrid sight is only interrupted by loud, running footsteps, and an enraged, loud scream from the doorframe. 

Ghost and Toast find themselves needing to duck as the room is filled with a plume of fire, just barely missing their heads. At the start of the flame is Apollyon, who looks disheveled and broken. She scorches Wiles and Roth with a scary determination, before snapping the flamethrower on her leg and approaching them. She hands a device to Ghost.

“Run as far as you can. Detonate this. I’m ending this here and now. Let’s go out with a bang!” She cackles, grinning madly at them both. Ghost stares up at her, device in hand. “you’re batshit crazy!” He snaps, standing up and pulling his dear partner up with him.  
The mad doctor only grins back. “I know love, and I’m also done for. Watch this place burn for me, boys!”

With that statement, the now unhinged doctor leans forwards and screams. The sickening sound of bones snapping and moving in ways they were never meant to is motivation enough for Toast to start running. He grabs Ghost’s wrist, dragging him along as the doctor succumbs to her planned assimilation. The cold breeze slams them in the face, threatening to freeze them completely, but not deterring their frantic getaway.   
“SIR! THE DEVICE!” He shouts back at his stunned partner, who fumbles for the detonator as they run through the snow. He presses the button without giving them even a moment to prepare.

The base goes up in flames and shrapnel, the inhuman screams of the creature mix with the sounds of explosions, creating an eerie symphony of death and fire. The force of the blast is enough to knock them off their feet, sending them into the hard ground. The screams die down as all fades to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! I’m regaining my motivation to write this, and I’m really excited to continue! From here on out, there’s no more strict focus on the movie plot >:3


End file.
